Teens tried to cause panic at Center Line fireworks

A group of teenagers tried to cause panic in the crowds at Center Line’s annual fireworks display by running at and past some of the thousands of people who gathered for the popular annual event, the city’s top public safety official said Tuesday.

Approximately six teens were kicked out of Memorial Park by police near the finale of the July 1 event.

Public Safety Director Paul Myszenski said the group appeared to be running toward, or away from, another band of teens and that two individuals appeared to be ready to fight. The next day, officials began to suspect the group had hatched a plan to begin running in unison in an attempt to make the crowd fear that everyone’s safety was being threatened.

Advertisement

Then on Tuesday, officials first learned from a retired law enforcer who attended the event that someone shouted about a weapon moments after officers ushered some of the troublemakers out of the park.

“There was another big group, and a girl yelled, “Gun!” or saw a gun, or something like “He has a gun!” Myszenski said. He insisted that panic did not ensue and crowds did not run in fear.

“I guess you could say it didn’t have the desired effect,” the public safety director said.

“This running thing is designed to instill panic. Since 9-11, when people see people run, they have this automatic panic and think something bad is happening…and it gets everyone to rush (away).”

Sterling Heights resident Lisa Burton, 25, said she attended the fireworks with her 1-year-old son, a cousin and friends, when many began running moments after she and a friend heard what they thought was six gunshots.

“I’ve heard gunshots before,” she said. “I was terrified. I heard a lot of shouting but don’t know anything that was said. People were screaming.”

“I’m surprised nobody got trampled,” said Burton, adding that she regularly attended the event while growing up in Center Line. “It seems like everyone was trying to run toward us because we were closer to the back.

“It was just panic.”

Myszenski stressed Tuesday that no shots were fired during the event and no gun was seen. No injuries were reported.

He said that if officers had known at the park that the group of teens had deliberately tried to cause panic, they would have arrested the individuals and sought warrants charging them with disorderly conduct or something more severe.

Myszenski said the city’s fireworks committee will meet to review the event and consider potential changes including security measures, as they do every year.

The crowd for the popular event, including the surrounding neighborhood, was estimated at between 3,000 and 5,000.

In 2012, a 19-year-old Warren man was shot in the back when he and thousands of others left after the conclusion of the Center Line fireworks display.

The victim was wounded as he walked in a group of people on 10 Mile Road near Lawrence Street, approximately one-quarter mile from Memorial Park.

One shot rang out as people walked in droves to their homes or vehicles, officials said. Public safety officials received conflicting accounts of where the victim was standing as he was shot, but investigators believed he was hit while on the north side of 10 Mile Road or as he was crossing that road to the south. The man collapsed on the apron near the large bays of the Public Safety Department just as public safety officers parked fire vehicles inside.

Officials had no indication the victim had been involved in an argument or fight with anyone else earlier. Any exchange of words between the victim and the gunman was very brief before the shot was fired.

No arrests have been made in that incident. Officials reported a few fights and some rowdy teens at the fireworks two years ago.

During the Mount Clemens city fireworks on June 27, there were several instances of large groups of people running in various directions from spots downtown.

But Macomb County Sheriff’s officials do not suspect anyone was trying to create panic.

“I don’t think it was organized. It was disorder. It was over-reaction,” Sheriff’s Lt. John Michalke said. “There was a disturbance, fight or something that caused everyone in the vicinity to scatter.”